Court links Nizhny Tagil gas explosion to maintenance failures

The Dzerzhinsky District Court in Nizhny Tagil linked a gas explosion that killed 11 people to maintenance failures and a gas hose concealed in a wall, the Sverdlovsk regional courts' press service said.

The court found that gas workers carried out maintenance in June 2024 without proper supervision. They did not complete required checks of equipment integrity and ventilation draught.

The supervisor responsible for organising the work was absent but later signed a document certifying its completion in full. A fitter also pressure-tested the gas pipeline in breach of the required procedures.

A gas hose in the flat had been placed inside a wall, preventing visual inspection. The court found that the combined violations caused the explosion and its consequences.

The blast occurred on August 1, 2024, in a building on Sibirskaya Street. Its first and second entrance sections collapsed. Eleven people died and 12 were injured.

The supervisor and two fitters were each sentenced to six years in a general-regime penal colony. The flat's owner received three years of restricted freedom.

The defendants were exempted from punishment on separate counts involving negligent property damage and injury because the limitation periods had expired.